Making lighthouses

Hazel class used scrap materials to make lighthouses for our topic of ‘light’. We used the knowledge we learned in science lessons to create a circuit with a lightbulb so that our lighthouses actually lit up!

Benin bronzes art workshop

Hazel class had a visit from an artist to deliver a workshop based on the Benin bronzes as part of our learning about the Ancient Kingdom of Benin. We used recycled materials to create our own versions of the Benin bronzes.

Endangered habitat dioramas

Hazel class have been learning about different habitats and the ways that they are under threat due to human activity. We made dioramas to show three different habitats: marine, forest and polar.

Making Roman shields

Hazel class have been learning about the Roman Empire. We designed, built, tested and evaluated our own Roman shields. We included traditional Roman symbols in our designs, like lightning bolts and laurel leaves.

Summer 2023

This term we have been finding out about rivers and making our own models. We have also been exploring exploring instruments and using what we found out to create our own instruments from recycling. We took part in the Big Draw which was great fun. Have a look at the pictures below to see what we’ve been up to!

Forest School

We are very lucky in that every half term we get to go to Forest School and take part in amazing outdoor learning opportunities!
This half term we built shelters, did mud painting on trees, found minibeasts and explored our local environment.
The children always love the activities and it is wonderful to see them playing, learning and enjoying themselves.

Topic

For our topic lessons we learned about the history of the Kingdom of Benin. We learned about the Ekasa ceremony where decorative banners as made as part of the festivities which also include feasts, music and cerebrations.

As part of our Benin topic we are creating our own Ekasa banners and held our own Ekasa ceremony with drummers and a procession. Our Oba then chose his Ekasa based on their dancing and their banners. Being chosen as Ekasa is a great honour!

Science

For the first half of spring term we have been learning all about how different animals eat food, for this we learned about different types of teeth, how to look after our teeth and the human digestive system.
We even made our own models of the human digestive system….it was lots of fun but very messy! By making these models we brought our learning to life!

Writing

For one of our pieces of writing this year we used the Pagan festival of Samhain as inspiration.
We wrote poems using similes and metaphors to describe the Samhain moon and then practised reading them using different tones, volumes and facial expressions.

Who knew we had so many amazing poets and performers!

Music

In recorder lessons we have loved our practical lessons but also found out how to read and write music!

Science

Throughout this term we have been learning about how plants and animals can be classified. We have learnt about the different classes of vertebrates and invertebrates, been zoologists studying animals in our school environment and even creating animal habitats and exploring the different plants during our Forest School sessions.

TOPIC

Our topic for Autumn 1 has been Romans and answering the question “What can we learn from different people?”.
We started the year off with our WOW day where we had a Roman feast, dressed in togas and made our own laurel wreaths and Roman coins.

Our Romans topic has also influenced our art and design and technology lessons; we created paper Roman mosaics of a legionary soldier. We also designed, tested and evaluated Roman shields that we made. As your can see we put them through rigorous testing procedures!

A River's Story

For this half terms topic, we have been learning all about the journey of a river. To start, we created our very own model rivers packed full of features. Can you spot them all?

Next, we got fully immersed in what if feels like to be in a river by jumping in some kayaks! Some of us got a bit more of the river that we intended…

Finally, to bring together everything we have been learning about, we created our own mini rivers during a very special full days forest school.

Lights, camera action!

This half term we have been looking at everything light related. From writing a newspaper article about the inventors, Thomas Edison and Lewis Latimer to the design of our very own light houses, we have done it all!

First we experienced life without the electric light bulb and imaged a world where all we had was candle light.

We explored how we can create art and stories through the use of shadow and light.

Finally, we brought together all of our knowledge of circuits to create our very own light houses. This proved much more difficult than we imagined, but everyone showed great resilience and demonstrated good knowledge of how circuits are created.

The Kingdom of Benin

This half term we have explored everything to do with the ancient Kingdom of Benin. Not to be confused with the country of Benin, the ancient kingdom used to exist in what is now Nigeria and has a fascinating history!

First, we had our very own Ekasa ceremony which is occurs when an Oba (king) is coronated.

We also had drumming lessons to learn more about West African rhythms.

We used drama to re-enact parts of Eweka the firsts life.

Finally, we created traditional Benin tiles which were often used as gifts for the Oba.

Forest School! - Animals and their habitats

We are so lucky to have access to regular forest school sessions. This time we explored hackney marshes, the organisms that live there and their habitats. Ask your children about different ways we can classify organisms.

Electricity, lights action!

After researching Thomas Edison and Lewis Latimer, we took some time to develop our own, new and improved lightbulb. This involved thinking about how we could improve the lightbulb and painting on the key elements of their invention. Can you remember 4 of them?

Next, we looked at creating mechanical drawings so we could be electricians ourselves! We used our knowledge of how a circuit works to design light houses. Some of them even had a switch!